Starting off with a bang at the Venice Film Festival last September, Michael Mann's
Ferrari
stalled and was unable to catch up with
Oppenheimer
in the race for the Oscar.
Just like Maestro, by Bradley Cooper, also in the running for the golden lion on the lagoon and also left behind by Christopher Nolan's atomic blockbuster, big favorite on March 10 to collect the major statuettes in Los Angeles.
Note that these are three portraits of famous people, a genre long out of date and once again in the odor of sanctity in Hollywood.
Bob Marley and soon Amy Winehouse confirm this renewed interest in historical or artistic figures, preferably with tragic destinies.
France is not left out.
Abbé Pierre, Maurice Ravel and soon Charles Aznavour, the screenwriters also lack imagination and seem to read an immeasurable number of biographies.
To discover
TV tonight: our selection of the day
Like his classmates, and as he has already accomplished in Ali, a film about the boxer Mohamed Ali, Michael Mann avoids the traps of the academic biopic, an illustrated Wikipedia entry without point of view or relief.
The American director recounts a special year in the life of the founder of the prancing horse brand.
After an heir to the Gucci family at Ridley Scott, the American Adam Driver lends his aged features and his hoarse voice to this other Italian icon.
Always in English, due to a convention as old as Hollywood and still more or less accepted - see the English-speaking Napoleon by Joaquin Phoenix.
Twilight beauty
1957 was a key year in the life and career of Enzo Ferrari, born in Modena in 1898. Il Commendatore (“the Commander”) was a grieving man.
His son Dino died of illness the previous year.
His wife, Laura (played by the Spaniard Penélope Cruz), is about to discover his double life - he has another son with a mistress living in the countryside.
Its competitor Maserati threatens its hegemony.
He is on the verge of bankruptcy.
Death lurks everywhere.
This is the case in all car movies.
Rush, Le Mans 66 (co-produced by Michael Mann) and even the lazy Race for Glory: Audi vs Lancia are recent examples.
But none achieve the twilight beauty of Ferrari.
Speed and pride flirt with the crony.
The drivers are cannon fodder for Ferrari, an inflexible, obsessive and taciturn autocrat.
The cars are filmed like rolling coffins.
They mowed down nine spectators including five children during the legendary Mille Miglia race, cut up by the Ferrari driven by Alfonso de Portego.
The plan is fleeting but very realistic.
A butcher shop.
A majestic testamentary film
Specialists will note the liberties taken with the chronology.
This doesn't take away from the cinematic power of this mechanical tank race.
A solar epilogue and a final card herald better days for the car manufacturer.
A concession on the part of Michael Mann, whose
Ferrari
is more of a mausoleum than a hagiography.
The octogenarian filmmaker has been toying with this project for a long time.
He should shoot
Heat 2
, the sequel to one of the most beautiful thrillers in the history of cinema, with a duo of legends, Robert de Niro and Al Pacino.
Already a work haunted by death.
It prevents.
With
Ferrari
, he will have signed a majestic testamentary film.
We can only regret that the big screen does not serve as a showcase.
Released in theaters in many countries, including the United States, in France it is only broadcast on Prime Video, Amazon's streaming service.
This reduction of the image transforms Ferrari's dazzling machines into small cars.
Damage